Emperor Nikolai is the rich and eccentric robot emperor of Robo-Hungary, described by Richard Nixon's head as "an insane dictator and one heck of a bowler". [6ACV10] In an interview with journalists Nikolai described himself as "just a humble emperor, with a big, big crown!" In truth, Nikolai had grown tired of his life of power and riches and yearned to experience life as a normal commoner.

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Nikolai visited New New York in 3010 to give a speech at the United Nations. He arrived with his entourage aboard his extravagant caviar-powered yacht RMS Overkill which would serve as his residency during his time in the city, were it not for his encounter with Bender Bending Rodriguez who was trying to rob him of his big, big crown. Bender, whose mind was in the body of Amy Wong, convinced Nikolai to trade bodies with him so that Nikolai could finally experience life as a lowly bending unit while, perhaps more importantly, Bender could enjoy life as a fabulously wealthy and powerful emperor, while also agreeing to fill in for Nikolai at a speech to the United Nations General Assembly.

When Bender could not locate his original body, he duped Nikolai into taking on the body of a Wash bucket. Nikolai then went to live with Fry (whose body was actually home at that point to the mind of Dr. Zoidberg) in Bender and Fry's apartment at Robot Arms. However, Nikolai's enjoyment of his new life as a commoner was relatively short-lived as his desire for cognac and Bender's fine cigars, coupled with Zoidberg's ineptitude and none of them knowing the dangers of exposing a naked flame during a gas leak, resulted in a rather nasty explosion.

Meanwhile, Bender, who had been enjoying Nikolai's former life on the Overkill, was confronted by Nikolai's fiancée, Princess Flavia, and Nikolai's cousinBasil, who revealed that they had been having an affair for 700 years and that they were intending to assassinate him so that Basil could take the throne of Robo-Hungary. Despite Bender's protestations that he was not Nikolai, the two would-be assassins stated their desire to destroy Nikolai's body in particular and so pursued Bender off the yacht and through the streets of New New York. Bender ultimately reached the United Nations where he gave an abridged version of the speech Nikolai was due to give, receiving thunderous applause. Bender was then challenged a final time in the middle of the General Assembly by Basil. In the subsequent fight Basil was killed by a team of Robo-Hungarian Robot Clowns who had rushed to save their emperor; Basil and Flavia's attempt on Nikolai's throne was over.

Following the incident Bender and Nikolai, the latter having seemingly miraculously escaped the gas explosion at the apartment, agreed to return to their original bodies. Prior to the final swap, Bender placed a phoney reproduction of Nikolai's crown onto his head/bucket. Nikolai promised to sell it to provide money for the poor, seemingly unaware of Bender's deception. After the swap, Nikolai appointed Sweet Clyde a Duke and bade farewell to the others, affectionately calling them "filthy commoners". As it turned out, Bender had left the real crown in Nikolai's compartment before the swap, meaning that the emperor walked away with both the fake and the real crowns; presumably, a scheming Bender was not far behind.

Despite being described as an "insane dictator" and being an extremely wealthy and presumably extremely long-lasting ruler of a country that, by appearance of its own capital, seemed backward and poor, Nikolai appears to be a very popular figure, irrespective of whose mind was in his body. Met with huge enthusiasm at the United Nations, with one robot ambassador expressing her love for Nikolai before Bender even began his speech, Nikolai also commanded great loyalty from his subjects, so much so that that one of his subjects willingly sacrificed her life in order to save the robot she believed was her emperor.